PLUME: What went into the booking of Dolly Parton? Who was just a phenomenal guest…

NORTON: Oh, she’s great. I think we sent presents, because I really, really wanted her. I think the record company knew how much I wanted her, and we kept missing each other. She would always be in town when we weren’t on air, or that kind of thing. It finally all came together and we were able to get her. But yeah, that took a long time.

PLUME: And who’s idea was it to do the Dollywood special?

NORTON: Theirs. That was – well, it was Dolly’s or the record company… it was somebody’s idea. It wasn’t ours – they came to us with it. We’re like, “Okay!” Dolly getting into the water ride to sing “Islands in the Stream” – that was her idea. Her people thought that we’d come up with it, so they kept saying all along, “I really don’t think Dolly’s going to do this. I really don’t think Dolly’s going to do this. You know, Dolly’s never got wet. She’s never, ever been near water.” We were like, “It was her idea!” and they just didn’t believe us. On the day, when Dolly came out in her wet suit – it was quite an occasion.

PLUME: All her staffers, I’m sure, were shocked.

NORTON: They were just – we couldn’t have been pouring liquid gold into that water, they were so worried.

PLUME: Did you have any reservations about traveling out there?

NORTON: No.

PLUME: Compared to your other filmed shows, it seemed it was a much more reverential show.

NORTON: Well, it is, because it’s a holy place. It’s home of Dolly. It was much more of a pilgrimage than any of the other trips we’ve done.

PLUME: And a dry county, right?

NORTON: Well, bless them…. the people did drive somewhere else to get me drink, so I could have that in my hotel room. But you know, I didn’t drink it. I thought, “No, I’m in a dry county. I’m not an alcoholic. I can do without this.” And I did. I felt very, very, very pure by the end.

PLUME: And then you went right back to …

NORTON: You know, I never did. I’ve never drunk as much as I used to since Dollywood.

PLUME: Really?

NORTON: Yeah.

PLUME: And that was filmed, what, last year? Two years ago?

NORTON: It must have been last year. It was September the 11th [2001].

PLUME: That must have been somewhat awkward to be there…

NORTON: I can’t tell you how little the good people of Pigeon Forge cared about September 11th. It really just passed them by.

PLUME: Now, knowing that it was filmed at that time – yeah, you couldn’t tell by looking at them that anything had happened.

NORTON: Actually, remember the sequence where we went to the rodeo and there was the pig racing? That was the night of September the 11th.

PLUME: I’m shocked.

NORTON: So were we. We didn’t think everything would be shot. We were kind of thinking, “Oh well, that’s the end of the documentary.” We were kind of going, “Well, when will it reopen?” And, “Oh, no. We’re doing shows tonight!” You know, I was talking to my mother on the phone, and in Ireland there was a national day or mourning, everything was shut – she couldn’t buy a carton of milk. And she’s like, “What’s that noise?” And I’m going, “That’s a merry-go-round behind me.”

PLUME: Boy, we really are the country of resilience, aren’t we?

NORTON: Well, I think the thing is, to the people of Pigeon Forge, New York is really far away. It’s just a big, dangerous place. Whereas I think people of England actually feel more connected to New York, because most people in England have been to New York. I think very few people there have ever been to the Big Apple.

PLUME: So when is your return trip?

NORTON: It’s funny, that was my return trip. I had been there once before, as a private individual.

PLUME: Oh really? Was it different going there to film?

NORTON: Well, it was better in that Dolly was there. I think lots of visitors just thought, “Of course she’s here. It’s Dollywood.” They’ll be very disappointed on their return visit. I think I did it the right way around.

PLUME: Well, it was a really nice special.

NORTON: Oh, thank you.

PLUME: And hopefully she’ll be on the show again soon.

NORTON: Oh, I’m sure she will, yeah.

PLUME: It’s interesting watching UK television, as opposed to U.S. television. Is there anything that is off limits, as far as what you can’t do on the show? I know you can say shit, fuck… you can show pornography – things that we couldn’t even touch in this country.

NORTON: There are still some language taboos. The C word is still fully out there. But, as I say, Dustin Hoffman said that the other night and it wasn’t even beeped, so obviously you can get around it.

PLUME: I guess it helps to win an Oscar.

NORTON: You can’t show an erect penis… but I think we’ve done just about everything else. I think I’ve run out now.

PLUME: I don’t think there’s anything else that I’ve seen that you haven’t touched upon.

NORTON: Yeah… or, you know, penis or penetration – that kind of thing.

PLUME: Is it something that’s been a gradual process, or have those limits haven’t been there the whole time you’ve been on?

NORTON: Those limits are still on, you know. I think what we’ve done… our first seven shows when we came on – we were flooded, inundated with complaints during that first season. Since then, complaints have really almost disappeared, just because everyone knows the show now. So now the broadcasting standards people, when people complain, their normal response is, “Why are you watching that show? Don’t you know what to expect by now?” If there is something very rude in the show, they do a verbal warning before the show – you know that it contains strong language or contents of a very sexual nature or that kind of thing. I think we kind of skirt around things like that. But we get away with more than I thought we ever would. Sometimes we’ll just keep going until someone stops us. Occasionally, we’ll get told we can’t show something that we thought was really quite mild, and then another time we’ll get away with something that we just assumed would be stopped before it ever got to air.

Continued below…

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